CoHNA Raises Concerns As CA Advances Bill On Transnational Repression
India-West Staff Reporter
SACRAMENTO, CA – The Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) has expressed disappointment after the California Senate’s Standing Committee on Governmental Organization voted to advance SB509.
The bill, introduced by Senator Anna Caballero, aims to create a training program through the Office of Emergency Services to help law enforcement identify and respond to “transnational repression.” This term refers to actions by foreign governments—or their proxies—targeting individuals or communities in exile through surveillance, threats, online harassment, or even physical violence.
Under SB509, the California Specialized Training Institute would develop a comprehensive training module to educate officers on recognizing tactics like spyware attacks, online intimidation, and coercion of family members abroad—methods often used by authoritarian regimes to suppress dissidents.
CoHNA board member Sudha Jagannathan, speaking on behalf of several Hindu organizations, criticized the bill for being too vague. She warned that it could potentially be “weaponized against the Hindu community.”
Senator Caballero defended the bill, saying it is designed to help law enforcement recognize “patterns of behavior” associated with foreign repression. However, CoHNA pushed back, questioning how the training would ensure fairness and avoid being misused against immigrant-dense communities. “How will the training be equitable and not used to weaponize the police against immigrant-heavy communities?” the group asked.
The hearing took place just one month after the vandalism of the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Chino Hills—California’s largest Hindu temple. CoHNA said the timing made the bill’s progression even more troubling. “When we see temples founded by Caribbean Hindus attacked with anti-India slogans, the pattern of using geo-politics to give cover to anti-Hindu hate becomes clear,” the organization stated.
The bill passed the committee with a majority vote.
